¿Qué Pasa, OSU? Autumn 2015

¿Qué Pasa, OSU? ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? The Magazine for Latino Scholarship and Community

Volume 23 Number 1 Autumn 2015­ quepasa.osu.edu

Coming of Age Millennial Potential L. Wiggins

2

Educational Lockouts F. Aldama and M. Pérez

4

Writing from Erasure R. Lopez

9

The Breakfast Group E. Foulis

13

Esquina de la editora

Coming of Age Who We Are Quiénes somos

In higher education, people come and go.

Every autumn, new faces appear on the Oval, and every spring, beloved friends and

Victoria Muñoz, Editor Jacinda Walker, Art Director Luisa Talamas, Art Director Assistant Leticia Wiggins, Staff Writer Yolanda Zepeda, Managing Director Contributors

Juan Abel Frederick Aldama Mónica García Blizzard Nicole Espinoza de Montreuil Elena Foulis J. Marcela Hernandez Randi Lopez Sonia BasSheva Mañjon Jake Martín Yalidy Matos Martín Pérez Adriana Toledo The Office of Diversity and Inclusion publishes ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? each autumn and spring semester. ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? is proud to celebrate the achievements of Latinos in a variety of disciplines: art, politics, science, technology, literature, and more. Although not every discipline will be featured in each issue, each thematically organized issue will highlight the diversity of fields in which Latinos excel.

The Ohio State University is not responsible for the content and views of this publication.

The publication does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the staff. All submissions for publications must include contact name and phone number or e-mail address. ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? reserves the right to refuse any submission for publication.

For questions and inquiries, please contact quepasa@osu.edu.

Note: We use the term “Latino” to represent both Latino and Latina.

Photos for each piece are provided by the author or interviewee unless otherwise noted. Additional photo credits for this issue: Desiree Crawl, Excelencia in Education

colleagues move on to new stages in their personal and professional lives. We often think of college graduation as a moment of coming of age, but how does this significant life event differ from person to person? What is the lived experience of attaining a college degree? This issue of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? features various coming of age narratives within the Latino community of OSU. However, just as Latinidad is differently experienced by each person, the experience of coming of age will differ from person to person.

In spite of the diversity of our experiences, certain commonalities bind us. As Mark Hugo Lopez explains, Hispanic millennials are emerging as a distinct population with real political clout. Yet, for many Latino youth, college access remains a struggle.

As Frederick Aldama and Martín Pérez relate, some Latinos must circumvent various institutional lockouts on their paths to higher ed. As J. Marcela Hernandez similarly relates, greater efforts must be made to improve diversity in the traditionally underrepresented STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines.

Nonetheless, the Latino community has always derived its greatest strength from its collective triumphs rather than its specific burdens. Juan Abel, who completed his bachelor’s degree this past May, credits the Ohio State community for providing him with essential support to help him to complete

his degree after a prolonged hiatus. OSU’s unique LASER program, founded by Frederick Aldama, was named a Bright Spot in Hispanic Education by the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics. High school Junior, Adriana Toledo also extolls the Summer Research Opportunities Program hosted by OSU, for helping her and other students from underrepresented groups to prepare for graduate school.

Ohio is excelling in community outreach. The Jeremiah Program provides much-needed support to single parents working to complete their college degrees. The 4L for Latinas program is further helping young women to transform personal upsets into empowering art while OSU’s Community Arts University Without Walls program in Puerto Rico trains aspiring activists in social justice through the arts.

Our faculty continue to foster visibility and fruitful dialogue among the Latino communities of Ohio and the nation. Jake Martin summarizes the distinguished athletic career of Cuban gymnastics coach, Casimiro Suárez. Elena Foulis relates her research in the personal narratives of Mexican-American Men in Lorain, Ohio, and Randi Lopez reviews the provocative coming-of-age novel, Out of Darkness, recently published by visiting professor, Ashley Pérez.

I also personally credit this publication for providing an important venue to unite the Latino communities of OSU and the greater Ohio area in celebration of our accomplishments and shared interests.

However, this publication would not be possible without the sponsorship of the ODI, the leadership of our brilliant mentor, Yolanda Zepeda, the creative vision of designers, Jacinda Walker and Luisa Talamas, and the keen journalistic vision of our contributing writer, Leticia Wiggins. I thank these talented women for making this issue a reality.

Con cariño,

Contenido

Girls Speaking Through Art

Writing from Erasure

10

Representing Medea

9 Cuban Gymnast Casimiro Suรกrez

The Jeremiah Program Thoughts Upon a Graduation

7

12

14

17 It Takes a Pueblo

8

Millennial Potential:

A Conversation with Mark Hugo Lopez

By Leticia Wiggins, PhD Candidate, History Recently, I sat down with Mark Hugo Lopez, Director of Hispanic Research at the Pew Research Center. Between meetings and other press calls, he kindly provided some background for his talk, “The Coming of Age of Hispanic Millennials,” delivered on campus this October. As he cited, “Every year, 800,000-plus Latinos turn 18…Most of the vote power is coming from these young millennials entering adulthood.” We discussed the many factors that make this generation of Latinos so important.

LW: In an article you wrote for The LW: Currently, the conversation around New York Times this past June you undocumented Americans and revealed that Hispanics marry noncitizenship has heightened cultural

LW: Leticia Wiggins (LW): It’s so good to talk to you today. To start, I’m curious about how the Pew Research Center defines the term Hispanic.

ML: Mark Hugo Lopez (ML): …generally we rely on people to self-identify as Hispanic. This might mean that those [whose ancestry contains] a grandmother from Mexico, but Hispanics at a fairly high rate. Does consciousness. Is this also a consider themselves white are not this phenomenon complicate selfspecial moment when millennials included in our analysis. We only identification for the new millennial are taking definite pride in their include in our analyses those who generation? heritage? self-identify as Hispanic or Latino ML: One quarter of all Hispanic ML: I think there are a couple of and this is especially important newlyweds married someone who elements in this “special moment” when we talk about the Latino vote. is not Hispanic. And if you take that you just identified. On one Let people tell you what they are or a look at children who are one hand, we just talked about how how they see themselves. year old or under, you’ll find that Hispanic identities in the future among those who live with both may be more limited. Our data LW: So, why not just not use the parents, 27% of Hispanic babies shows that Hispanics today seem term Latino? have at least one parent who’s to be getting more messages ML: Good question. We at Pew not Hispanic…And this is indicative about being proud of their ethnic use these terms Hispanic and of where the identity question backgrounds than ever before. And Latino interchangeably. The is headed. Hispanic community now, one third of third-generation federal government does have a growth is based on U.S.-born Hispanics will tell us that the longstanding and clear definition Hispanics on the one hand-and term they identify most with is of who is Hispanic and who is not. on the other, it’s based on new their country of origin. U.S.-born Hispanic means anyone who lives immigrants and what it means to be Hispanics of U.S.-born parents are in one of the 21 Spanish-speaking American today. It’s possible that in likely to say “I’m Mexican.” Then, countries of Latin America or Spain.

40 to 50 years, this identity may be 50% of that same group will say Sometimes you’ll get people who’ll very different or may not be quite that they’re Americans most often. identify as Hispanic or Latino who as relevant as it is now. Already It’s interesting that we have this are from Brazil, Germany, or even two and a half million Americans really strong sense of Hispanic the Philippines, and so we have to say that they have some Hispanic identity, and frankly, the two stories count them as such. ancestry, but don’t self-identify as we’re talking about are going in Hispanic or Latino. opposite directions. You have both 2 quepasa.osu.edu

this mixing of Hispanics with non-Hispanics and this moment where there’s a lot of emphasis on being proud of who you are and where you’re from. In 40 to 50 years, this may change; there may be a diminished notion of Hispanic identity.

LW: What makes Hispanic millennials different from other American millennials?

ML: On one hand, Hispanic millennials, between the ages of 18 and 34 are generally like other young Americans. When it comes to religious affiliation, one third of Hispanic millennials will say

they’re not affiliated with any religion—close to the general U.S. public data. When you take a look at things like voting, young people will go out to vote in large numbers—true of whites, blacks, and Hispanics. And now, Hispanic millennials are more likely to be English-speaking than their adult counterparts. In many ways they’re reflecting the general millennial experience.

Young Latinos are different in their use of technology. They’re more likely to access the internet mostly from a smartphone or a tablet than their millennial counterparts.

White millennials tend to have

desktops or laptops. Also, Hispanic millennials are more likely to be bilingual than other millennials.

English use is on the rise. Finally, we’ve seen a really big change recently, with a surge in college enrollments for young Latinos since 2009. Now, 2.4 million young Latinos are on college campuses, the largest minority among two and four-year institutions…many young Latinos see the college degree as a key to success in the future, but they’re not finishing as quickly as their black and Asian counterparts.

This is where the big gaps are.

LATINO COLLEGE COMPLETION:

OHIO

FAST FACTS STATE RANKING

23rd largest Latino population in the U.S.

Ohio had the

1

K-12 POPULATION

In Ohio, 5% of the K-12 population was Latino.2

For the U.S. to regain the top ranking in the world for college degree attainment, Latinos will need to earn 5.5 million degrees by 2020.

MEDIAN AGE

DEGREE ATTAINMENT

The median age of Latinos in Ohio was 25, compared to 41 for White non-Hispanics. 4

In Ohio, 23% of Latino adults (25 and older) had earned an associate degree or higher, compared to 32% of all adults. 5

25 41

Latino Adults =2.3 of 10

STATE POPULATION

In Ohio, 3% of the state population was Latino.3 Projections show a continued increase.

White Latinos non-Hispanics

All Adults = 3.2 of 10

ENSURING AMERICA’S FUTURE BY INCREASING LATINO COLLEGE COMPLETION • WWW.EDEXCELENCIA.ORG

Used with permission from Excelencia in Education, Edexcelencia.org Autumn 3

Tourniquets that Slow

The Bleedout of Latino Males

By Frederick Aldama, LASER Founder, and Martín Pérez, Alumnus, Finance and Nonprofit Management Beginnings Frederick got into UC Berkeley as an affirmative action kid. He was little prepared for the challenges of navigating a college campus filled with white middle-class students who seemed to know well its machinery. He could cut a thick prejudice with a butter knife. In the cafeteria one of his two roommates (both alums of Beverly Hills High) once announced, “We all know why Frederick got in to Cal: the charity program called Affirmative Action.” Frederick found himself at the edge of the precipice Latinos know all too well.

Instead of dropping out and going home and taking classes at the local community college, he decided not to let them win. He decided to stick it out.

Some two decades later, Martín got into OSU as a Morrill Scholar. Ill prepared, Martín was ready to drop out of school because he could not afford the student fees that his scholarship did not cover. Martín had fifty dollars in his pocket. He had no idea how he was going to pay for books let alone another thousand dollars in student fees. However, he found assistance with navigating the unfamiliar terrain of financial aid and was ultimately able to attend OSU. From an early stage in his college career, Martín was made aware that Latino men do not very often succeed in our higher education system. An older Latino student stated, “out of all of my Latino friends from Toledo, I am the only male left in my cohort.” This statement made Martín feel uneasy about the possibility of his dropping out and, from that point onward, he determined that he would not become another Latino dropout.

Unfortunately, our stories are all too common. Even before college, the education system fails us. It’s bleeding out generations of Latinos and males seem to be especially vulnerable. Our schools are generally under-resourced and our teachers, over-worked and apathetic. How often have Latinos heard that we’re not college material? How often have preschool teachers looked suspiciously at our little brothers, cousins—our own children? Too often!

Our tenuous connection to education begins early. It’s made even thinner when we come from families in which our parents worked multiple jobs just to keep roofs over our heads. We see this vulnerable connection to education on a daily basis in and around Columbus. It’s this vulnerability that ultimately wins out, thereby locking us out of the education system altogether.

4 quepasa.osu.edu

Latinos in and around Columbus have less than fifty percent likelihood of finishing high school. Of those that make it, only a few go on to attend community college, and even fewer to attend OSU. The numbers drop precipitously for those who lasso graduate and professional degrees.

In order to provide a strong sense of how our experience is mirrored by other Latino males, we conducted various interviews with Latinos at OSU. These are Latinos who have bucked the tragic trend and whose stories inspire and embolden us to further action. We don’t use their real names in order to protect their privacy.

Circumventing the Educational Lockouts Of Salvadoran ancestry and with a dark brown phenotype, Manuel struggled to make his way through his inner-city high school in Cleveland. Race relations were not divided between white and brown, but rather between black and brown, with African Americans composing the majority.

He could think of nothing else but simply “graduating high school.” He was acutely aware of that he was playing the odds and knew that “higher education was not an option for most.” However, through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s outreach efforts, especially its Young Scholars Program (YSP), he’s now graduating from OSU. A Cleveland native of mixed African-American, Puerto Rican, and Polish descent, David is also a first-generation college student. Although he strongly identifies as Latino, (his Polish ancestry barely a whisper), his African background allowed him to better perceive how other minority groups struggle “in the real world.” David attended an under-resourced high school where “principals and teachers were more worried about keeping kids in or out of school” than academics.

His experience at the margins planted in him the strong urge to become an educator. This was a path he’d have to carve for himself. Most of his peers didn’t see college in their future, and rather imagined themselves as “mechanics or landscapers.” He made it to OSU as a YSP student.

Things were shaky at first—“I found myself struggling academically”—but he’s now progressing toward a degree in strategic communications.

Overcoming Circumstance Several other Latinos of Mexican origin, including Carlos, Samuel, and Javier, felt pressure to stay home to support

their families. As the eldest male in the family, Carlos worked to help his single mom put food on the table. Javier recalls having had a job ever since he was of legal working age: “It wasn’t much when I was younger, but then I felt obligated to help with rent.” And, Samuel has also always supported his family, adding that, as the eldest, he’s “pursuing a degree to set the correct example in [his] family...for the rest to aspire to be great as well.”

Matias, a Latino of Puerto Rican descent who attended high school in the Columbus suburbs, also experienced tremendous pressure to stay home and to work and “help financially support [his] parents and family.”

to college, they didn’t really know how to help him find a path to college. Another young man’s parents worked so much they weren’t around to “teach us the fundamentals of life.” He had to teach himself how “to survive.” However, the feeling of being first-generation and Latino never disappears. For Javier, having parents and extended family with no experience of going to college “made the process a lot tougher than it should have been.” He’s had to make big sacrifices, including having to work while at OSU because his parents live paycheck to paycheck.

Being Latino at OSU

Carlos, Samuel, and Javier also reflect that many of their peers succumbed to the temptation to drop out or join a gang “for quick money.” Samuel explains how “[that] life was easy to fall into and, in my neighborhood, it has claimed many through family members, peer pressure, or unfortunate circumstances.” These forces brought him into a lot of trouble that he’s still not fully overcome. Carlos, meanwhile, remembers getting “into trouble throughout high school,” but also learning from “those negative experiences.”

Generation First The men of this cohort all spring from working-class families.

In a country like ours where race, ethnicity, and class are closely knitted to access (or lack thereof) to college, it’s no surprise that these men are all first-generation college students. One young man’s father never finished high school and his mother never made it to middle school. And while their parents may have supported their desire to go

For Latinos like David, Manuel, Carlos, Samuel, and Javier, admittance to a place like OSU is not the magic solution to all their problems. It can be a rather rough road. While some like Manuel articulate this more clearly—he lives with the “feeling of not actually belonging here”—they each variously feel that they are marginalized, ignored, or rendered invisible. Javier describes this as a feeling that “others have the advantage.” These men often feel a sense of solidarity with their African American brothers. One man summarizes that they have “similar experiences with different stories.” David, meanwhile, experiences campus racial politics more variedly. Back home, his friends identify him as African American, but on campus people identify him as Latino “because I have curly hair, [and] from time to time I may play Hispanic music.” Although they identify with African Americans on campus, therefore, these young men are acutely aware of how the institutional infrastructures isolate the different ethnic and racial groups. Matias remarks that “the lack of communication between our groups is an issue.”

Ohio Equity Gap in Degree Completion Closing the equity gap in college comple on can be tracked by the 3 measures provided below. Alone, none of these measures capture the en re “story” of equity in degree comple on. However, in combina on, they provide a useful picture of the equity gap in degree a ainment between La no and white cohorts in Ohio in a single year (2010-11).

DEGREE ATTAINMENT Percentage of La no adults in Ohio (25 and older) with an associate degree 5 or higher, compared to all adults in Ohio.

Latino Adults: 23% All Adults: 32%

GRADUATION RATES: 2010 – 11

COMPLETIONS PER 100 FTE

Gradua on rates— Total gradua on within 150% percent of program me for first- me, full- me freshman Comple ons per 100 FTE students— Total undergraduate degrees and cer ficates awarded per 100 full- me equivalent students (incorporates part- me students) Comple ons Rela ve to the Popula on in Need— Total undergraduate degrees and cer ficates awarded per 1,000 adults 25 years and older rela ve to the adult popula on with no college degree.

Latino 14%

White 18% Equity Gap 4%

Latino 44%

White 51%

POPULATION IN NEED

Latino 18%

White 21% Equity Gap 3%

Equity Gap 7%

Each student reflects that the different ways that society perceives Latino males depends on their phenotype: “As a darker Latino male,” Carlos summarizes, “I feel that it opens the door to more prejudice than one who is lighter may experience.”

They all mention the importance of being bilingual as a way of moving between cultures. By becoming involved and creating community at OSU, these Latinos have had the opportunity to reflect back to society a different image. As Carlos astutely remarks, “many people do not think I am academically capable [and are] surprised when they find out I have good grades and do well in school. This kind of social mirror can be discouraging at times, but also motivating for me to excel.”

Used with permission from Excelencia in Education, Edexcelencia.org

Autumn 5

Co-created Learning But all is not gloom and doom. These Latinos have actively fostered community, even where none existed.

They know intuitively that learning happens just as much through one’s peers as one’s teachers. They also know that we learn best and most deeply when our biological system is not under psychological duress. Indeed, as research shows, activities outside of class and involvement with peers and professors improve students’ chances of finishing college. For Matias, “finding role models in my peers” was a game-changer, and feeling like there were entities that wanted his input and involvement “has played a major role in my OSU experience.” This has also proved true for the others who have variously sought out Latino organizations like the Latino fraternity, SHPE (Society of Hispanic Engineers), LSA (Latino Student Association), and LASER (Latino/Latin American Space for Enrichment and Research). These peer mentoring communities have helped them not only to navigate college, but also to feel more at home. Manuel recalls that “experiences of racism on campus seemed to be less significant and distracting.” For Javier, moreover, involvement with the Latino fraternity has “created a family here for me that I feel safe and comfortable with.

I can be myself around these individuals without fear of judgment or criticism.”

The Picture of Tomorrow Each of the stories here shared reveals the various ways that Latino males have navigated educational labyrinths and overcome seemingly insurmountable educational hurdles: under-resourced schools, domestic pressures, and warped social mirrors that reflect back a singular image of Latinos as degenerate or only a pair of arms. The fact remains, however, that these men are few among many Latinos hemorrhaged by our deeply wounded education system. Indeed, if we consider that Latinos compose the majority minority in the U.S. and even the majority in some states, the picture of tomorrow looks pretty bleak. If we Latinos have no future, then the country as a whole has no future. This may sound like the premise of a dystopian science fiction flick, but it’s not. It is our reality today.

Therefore, we must keep eyes wide open not only to work for the rights of our Latino brothers and sisters, but also to work to ensure that more of us have access to these places of higher learning. We must constantly work to ensure that there’s an infrastructure in place to hold us and to launch us. Those of us that have made it, Latinos and Latinas, must join arms to create that net to ensure that the next generation makes it.

Why? Because nobody else will.

6 quepasa.osu.edu

Our Rising Stars Ohio State is home to bright and talented young men looking to make an impact on their communities and the world.

Cesar Rafael Santamaria, History Major: I ultimately want to pursue a PhD in history.

Jawan DavilaLove, Strategic Communication Major and Music, Media, Enterprise Minor: My career goal is to provide a platform for underrepresented children to make something of themselves and achieve success in higher education.

Jose Carrillo, Public Affairs and Political Science: I am preparing for a career in public service; this spring I will represent OSU as a Glenn Fellow in the Washington Academic Internship Program.

Jorge Carrillo Jr., City and Regional Planning: I would like to become a city and regional planner with a specialty in geographic information systems.

Thoughts

Upon a Graduation

By Juan Manuel Abel, Alumnus, International Studies/World Economy and Business As I joined my fellow graduates in Ohio Stadium for the 2015 Spring Commencement, I became

Even when everything seemed to be going downhill, a voice inside me told me to stay the course. I knew that if I

overwhelmed with feelings of fellowship. We’d spent countless hours reading, studying, and researching together in Thompson Library.

We had attended some amazing football games in The Shoe, and had participated in many student activities and organizations. Where we differed, however, is that when I graduated from high school, many of my peers had not been born.

utilized all the resources available to me as an OSU student and employee, I could accomplish my goal of earning a college degree.

As an older, first-generation and non-traditional student, my path to a college degree was full of obstacles that threatened to derail my educational endeavors. In 2011, I dealt with illness and financial setbacks. In 2013, I struggled through challenging economics courses. In 2014, health issues arose once again, attempting to get in the way of my dreams. Some may wonder how I maintained my focus in the midst of so many obstacles.

who made my life as an older student so much fun. To my Rec Sports/Group Fitness team, for their constant support and encouragement.

I also remembered everyone in the Office of Student Life whose doors were always open to me, and whose support I knew would open doors for me in the future.

I looked forward to giving back to this institution everything that it gave to me, and to participating in alumni outreach programs to foster diversity and leadership in the OSU community.

It would be impossible for me to acknowledge all of the many beautiful, inspiring, and supportive Buckeyes who passed through my mind on that day. Instead, I will simply say to everyone who As I accepted my bachelor’s degree in believed in me, encouraged me, and International Studies/World Economy embarked on this journey with me, and Business on May 10th, 2015, I thank you! And to the graduates of realized that the time had finally come OSU, past and present, congratulations! to collect on my investment. I thanked We are all part of the largest family God for giving me the strength to get one could ever want. I know that our up every time that life had knocked me journeys are not over, and there will down. I thanked my mother for always surely be many more challenges ahead. being so patient and supportive, even However, as each chapter closes, let during my tumultuous youth. I once us always remember to look back with asked her, “How did you do it?” and she pride and joy, and ahead with faith and simply responded, “I’m your Mother.” courage. Buckeyes, ¡por vida!

Gracias por todo, Mami.

My thoughts then turned to the OSU community. To the professors who motivated me and sparked my interest to learn new things. To the amazing kids of the Ohio Union Production Crew,

Autumn 7

dents e

arrow ers of e

ts e.

cate upport .

Figure 1.

Current flow of students through the pipeline

Institution A

It Takes A Pueblo: * The thickness of the arrow represents the numbers of students at each stage

Institution B

Undergraduate

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Coordinated Networks Improve STEM Diversity Institution C

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

By J. Marcela Hernandez, Director of Graduate/STEM Diversity, College of Arts and Sciences Institution D

This fall at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) annual conference, Executive Director of the Institution A

Undergraduate

Graduate

Figure 2.

Ideal flow of students Postdoc Faculty through the pipeline.

The yellow boxes indicate programs with URM support program components.

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

are plenty of opportunities to drop out.

Often a student who benefits from one Institution Postdoc Graduate Faculty Undergraduate of Ethese undergraduate programs at Institution A, succeeds at getting admitted Institution A

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Institution B

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Institution B

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Institution C

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Institution C

Undergraduate

Graduate

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Faculty

Institution D

Undergraduate

Graduate

Postdoc

Faculty

Institution D

Undergraduate

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Institution E

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Figure 1. Current flow of students through the pipeline. The thickness of the arrow Institution A Graduate Undergraduate represents the numbers of Postdoc studentsFaculty at each stage.* Institution Undergraduate Master’s-to-PhD Postdoc Graduate Faculty Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge B Program, Dr. Dina Myers Stroud, and I partnered to deliver a workshop about Institution Undergraduate Postdoc Faculty theC importance ofGraduate a mentoring network.

We called the program, It Takes A Pueblo, to emphasize the fact thatPostdoc to succeed, Institution Faculty Graduate Undergraduate D students need to surround themselves with a group of sponsors, mentors, and to help them navigate their Postdoc Institutionfriends Graduate Faculty Undergraduate E disciplines and reach their goals. This approach is not only relevant at the individual level, but also at the institutional and inter-institutional levels.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), among others, are funding a number of programs across the country to broaden participation in STEM. Some institutions have programs at every step of the pipeline, while others only offer them at one or two. The success of these pipeline programs has been well documented, and has contributed toward inclusion of underrepresented minority (URM) groups in STEM. However, the pipeline is still very leaky (Fig 1). Given the nature of STEM training, which obligates students to jump from Institution to institution for each career stage, there 8 quepasa.osu.edu

Program leaders should network within their institutions so they can learn how to better prepare URM students for the next level. They can also educate their colleagues about what different students are experiencing. For example, an undergraduate program could learn from their institution’s graduate URM program about their admissions processes, outcomes, and strategies. Meanwhile, URM graduate programs could learn how the corresponding undergraduate programs work and the advantages they confer on their participants.

Of equal importance is networking with other institutions that recruit URM Postdoc Institution Graduate Faculty Undergraduate students for their programs. Instead of E being viewed as competitors, they can Figure 2. Ideal flow of students through the be viewed as partners. Institution A’s pipeline. undergraduates can be Institution B’s graduates, and Institution B’s graduates can be Institution A’s postdocs. It would into a PhD program at Institution B. be beneficial to map out a plan for URM However, very frequently the graduate students from the undergraduate level to program at Institution B does not offer the professoriate, making them aware of any programming or support for these the programs they need to seek along students. In addition, the network the the way (Fig. 2). We could then envision student built at Institution A now must a student starting out in an NSF LSAMP be recreated at Institution B, but at the (Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority graduate level. As a result, many students Participation) program, getting a PhD struggle and either leave the program as part of a National Institute of Health without a degree, or graduate and then training program, and participating in a leave academia for another career. postdoctoral program for URM scientists Students often hear about the importance before becoming a faculty member or of choosing research that excites them principal investigator. Throughout this and seeking the mentorship of a wellexperience, the student would have known investigator who can connect them access to resources and mentoring to opportunities for career advancement. networks to help him or her succeed.

They are rarely advised to look for good Our mission should be to form institutional scientific mentors who will train them networks with the goal of coordinating well in a way that is compatible with how support and mentoring for URM students they learn best. They are also generally throughout their careers, and making uninformed about programs funded by sure that everyone is aware of what the NIH and NSF at the graduate level each program is learning. A coordinated and beyond, the benefits these programs effort may maximize the investments offer, and how to find them. Institutions we are making in URM programs across need to do a better job of steering URM the country. It takes a pueblo of many students into nurturing environments and institutions and programs cooperating to to institutions and programs that end underrepresentation in STEM. If this are truly committed to diversifying the plan works well, this could be a model for STEM workforce. student success programs across the country.

Writing from Erasure

Ashley Pérez’s Out of Darkness

By Randi Lopez, PhD Student, English “But the work continues as armies of undertakers and volunteers tend bodies in makeshift morgues. With no time for embalming, they brush the dead with formaldehyde from buckets.

Eyes burn and swell shut from the fumes. Mothers and fathers walk among the sheeted bodies, stop, move on.

Faces are a mercy; most identifications come after a scrutiny of birthmarks, scraping, scars” —Out of Darkness (2015) The relationship an author has with her writing is an amalgam of creativity, vulnerability, exposure, and obligation.

When I sat down with Dr. Ashley Hope Pérez, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Comparative Studies and young adult fiction author, I was interested in how an author and literary critic mediates between the worlds of fiction and literary analysis. So often, the roles of writer and critic collide, a tension I am all too familiar with. When we discussed her narratives, Pérez spoke of her characters as sentient beings, living in a complex and dynamic world. She did not address the characters as her creations; instead, they were agents of their own stories and she fulfills her responsibility to them by placing herself in the shoes of each and every one of them. What do they sound and look like? How would they respond in a given situation?

Thus, Pérez’s writing process begins with remaining faithful to what the narratives are asking of her.

The premise for Pérez’s most recent novel, Out of Darkness, begins with a school explosion, arguably one of the worst disasters in American history, claiming the lives of over three hundred students at a New London, Texas, school. Because there was no complete accounting of all of the students who attended the school, there was no certain knowledge of how many students died in all. The East Texas community had

no clear way of assigning responsibility for the explosion, which led to fraught collective mourning and frustration.

In the world of the novel, the aftermath of the explosion becomes a catalyst for racialized violence. The novel also foregrounds several marginalized histories, including the role the American education system played in the lived experiences of Mexican American students in 1930s Texas, which segregated students into overcrowded “Mexican” schools staffed by white teachers who often resented their assignments and treated students poorly. Pérez did in-depth archival research to combine these histories with factual details of the school explosion itself. Her research also included interviews with community members and a focus on the ways education functioned as a mechanism of disenfranchisement for Mexican and Mexican American students. Through her research, Pérez discovered that, when it came to capturing the experiences of Mexican Americans and African Americans at the time of the New London explosion, she would be writing a great deal from archival absence and erasure. She embraced her novel as a way to make the invisible visible by narrating this disaster through the lens of an erased or perhaps negated lens.

Pérez’s body of fiction reveals a yearning to know more about stories that remain in the margins and to question what other possibilities and realities exist. She notes that so long as she has unanswered questions, she has books to author. Out of Darkness as well as her preceding novels, The Knife and the Butterfly, and What Can’t Wait, are written with a young adult audience in mind. However, her excavation of marginalized experiences requires the same level of attentiveness and care afforded to novels intended for adults. The themes of Out of Darkness may be discomfiting for some, but they engage readers from diverse backgrounds in framing a response to legacies of violently erased historical perspectives.

As this issue went to press, Pérez’s book received a glowing review by the New York Times Sunday Book Review.

Damien Cave described Out of Darkness as “a story about race—about gradients, and forbidden crossings... A tragedy, real and racial, swallows us whole, and lingers.”

Autumn 9

4L for Latinas:

Girls Speaking Through Art

By Yalidy Matos, Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University On January 24th, 2015 Femergy powered by 4L for Latinas kicked off its fifth cycle of Girls Heart Reading Ohio (GHRO), which is a program dedicated to the self-growth and

development of teenage girls from grades 6 through 12.

GHRO’s mission is to empower, educate, and connect these future leaders and innovators with the tools and resources they need to be successful in school and in life. Scholars are given the opportunity to connect and power each other’s enthusiasm for literacy and desire for personal growth. Each cycle focuses on a new theme and piece of literature that is tied into enrichment exploration. Cycles are approximately six to eight weeks long, and held on Saturday afternoons at The Ohio State University. With the support of sponsors, 4L for Latinas brings these workshops, mentoring sessions, and direct coaching to girls all over central Ohio. The program hopes to one day serve girls around the world.

Femergy is a nonprofit organization led by President Christina Vera and Vice President Maylin Sambois. I cocoordinated Cycle 5 of GHRO with Ashley Hope Pérez, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Studies. This year’s cohort of approximately thirty girls read The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell. The girls also received notebooks in which they experimented with different modes of writing and artistic expression.

Throughout the seven-week program, the girls were assigned different diaries in the book and when we met, 10 quepasa.osu.edu

Ashley led the girls through various exercises to think through what they read and to write down thoughts and experiences they’ve had as well. In the process, the girls learned about struggle, compassion, equality, ethical behavior, poverty, dedication and persistence; they practiced using different forms of art to express individual experiences.

We regularly discussed ways to find our own voices, claim our own experiences, overcome weaknesses and mistakes, identify strengths, make difficult choices, forge new beginnings, juggle academic challenges and domestic responsibilities, and form relationships. Needless to say, class discussions were as affirming and revelatory for Christina, Maylin, Ashley, and me as they were for the participants.

As part of this season’s program, the culminating event was “Rocking the Mic,” an open mic event where the girls were able to practice public speaking and read their poems out loud to their family and friends. Prior to the Open Mic event, the girls met with Tiffany Lewis, a teaching artist and a recent doctoral graduate of OSU. Tiffany’s theatre background and expertise working with children allowed her to connect with the girls. Together, they worked on public speaking and theatre exercises.

On May 9th, Christina and Maylin brought together family, friends, and sponsors to cheer on the girls as they finally took the stage. Some were quite nervous to be on stage for the first time and to deliver the poems they had worked on throughout the program. Tiffany led the girls to deliver moving pieces of such great power that the audience was visibly struck with emotion. Piece titles ranged from “Hopefully”, “What is Beauty,” “A War Inside Your Head,” “#GMH,” “Responsibility,” “The Politics of Hair,” and “I am.”

It was not easy for some of the participants to share their highly personal poetry, but at the end of the program, they each learned how to finding their voices through art. We are so proud of everything of these young women and everything that they accomplished.

For more information or to volunteer, visit www.femergy. org or e-mail info@femergy.org. Reach Christina or Maylin personally at 614-653-8454.

Hopefully, By Isa Sanchez My mind draws a blank.

I feel sick to my stomach.

This needs to be done, that needs to be finished.

Sleeping forever seems pretty good right now.

Depression sucks.

I’d like to be left alone, but I’d rather not be lonely.

I wear a frown on my face, and tell people I’m fine.

On the inside I’m falling apart.

Don’t help me put the pieces back together.

I’ve got this.

Hopefully.

What Is Beauty, By Nadia DeGraffenreid As she glances into the mirror, Beauty couldn’t be nearer.

Of course she can’t see that, All she can see is fat.

She opens a magazine, Everyone is lean.

They make her feel bigger, Cuz they’re so much thinner.

She can’t understand, That they are all bland.

Out with the character, and freedom of speech, In with the specialists who just wrote your speech.

Never mind being unique, You could turn into lady gaga, eek!

This girl doesn’t understand plastic surgery.

Better yet photoshop and forgery.

All she can see is beauty, They all look so pretty.

And everything they say is witty.

Next to their young, bright faces she feels rickety.

Her curly black hair looks nappy.

Compared to their long blonde locks that are ohso classy.

She thinks she knows why now, and out loud she says “They must just be prettier than me in if not every single one, then lots of ways.”

I say take the standards and crumple them up, Rip them and don’t bother to sweep them up.

Let us all be beautiful, let us all be worthy.

Dear god let us all be pretty.

A War Inside Your Head By Angelica Scaffi At the age of 8 she didn’t care what she looked like she didn’t mind being alone she never cried and things were always good but at the age of 13 she had the fear of being imperfect the fear of being lonely the fear of breaking down at any moment because it’s just so bad you tell yourself things are okay but in reality they aren’t but the worst thing of all is the fearing yourself as time goes by smiles come back the girl she used to know is slowly returning and the demon inside of her is drifting away. She stops her bad habits and creates good ones she doesn’t let society tell her that she isn’t worth it or not beautiful she didn’t fear herself anymore bad times come and go but now she’s wiping tears away and saying I’m glad I won this war.

Catching Up With Our LASER Mentee

by Nicole Espinoza de Montreuil, Senior, South-Western Career Academy Since I was last featured in ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?, I’ve been exploring my career goals by participating in the youth outreach program, DECA. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Founded in 1946, the program has now reached over 200,000 members, 3,500 high school chapters, 275 collegiate chapters, and 5,500 participating advisors.

My experience with DECA has greatly changed my life. When I transferred from my beloved alma mater, Westland High School, to South-Western Career Academy during my sophomore year, my life took a complete 180-degree turn. It was then when I first heard about DECA’s competitions and outreach activities.

Through DECA I attended my first Columbus Blue Jackets game and learned how the marketing department promotes their events. In addition, on January 16th, 2015, I traveled to the AAA Travel Expo and learned about AAA’s events sponsorship activities and event coordinating protocols.

On November 18th, 2014, I participated in the DECA association’s Parliamentarian competition and was awarded 2nd place in the district competition. On March 15th, 2015, my friends and I placed among the top 10 state-level Marketing Research projects. It was a time-consuming project, but along the road we learned how to manage our times and finish the project—our masterpiece.

I also participated in the Ohio DECA Summer Leadership Retreat, or DECA Camp. I greatly enjoyed interacting with peers from diverse backgrounds and groups. Aside from social events, DECA also hosted informational workshops hosted by DECA leaders, advisors, and state officers. DECA also invited renowned public speakers, Dr. Don Bartlette and Mr. Harvey Alston.

DECA offers unique leadership and mentorship opportunities to students across the nation, but DECA is more than just an organization. It is a family. Whenever I attend a DECA event, or socialize with the friends I’ve made through DECA, I feel at home.

Semester 11

Transforming Lives

Two Generations At a Time

By Yolanda Zepeda, Assistant Vice Provost, Office of Diversity and Inclusion More than one in four undergraduate students nationwide is raising dependent children. Parent students are more likely than their peers to be low income, and with the demands

Assistant Provost, Yolanda Zepeda, sits down with Jeremian Program President and CEO GLoria Perez of childcare and work, the odds of successful degree completion are stacked against them.

Thanks to Gloria Perez, President and CEO of the Jeremiah Program, college success prospects are changing for student parents across the country. Perez helped design the Jeremiah Program which provides single-parent students with a nurturing community, affordable housing, quality early childhood education, life skills training, and support for career-track education. “Our goal is to move families from poverty to prosperity, two generations at a time,” explained Perez. “When children see their mothers doing homework and finding success, it becomes normal. It empowers children to succeed.”

offers thirty-eight family units. Partner programs implementing the two-generation model are underway in locations as far away as Austin, Texas; Fargo, North Dakota; and Boston, Massachusetts. Taking the Jeremiah Project nationwide, Perez is helping to change the higher education landscape and success outcomes for single parent students and their children.

Pérez’s mission to promote the educational success of parent students has roots in her own experiences growing up. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Perez was in elementary school when her father died. Struggling to support her family, Pérez’s mother enrolled in night classes. Watching her mother work so hard for an education had a great impact on Pérez, and when she reached her senior year in high school, her educational aspirations led her to Minnesota. During her college years, Pérez volunteered at Casa de Esperanza, an organization devoted to ending domestic violence in Latino families. She served as a volunteer children’s advocate, and eventually, Pérez took up the mantle of executive director.

As a keynote speaker at Ohio State’s Student Parent Support Symposium for several years, Perez has advocated for a two-generation approach to poverty. The event is hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s Access Collaborative program, a program that has been investing in single parent students at Ohio State for more than 20 years. The program director, Traci Lewis, is exploring collaboration opportunities with Gloria Perez and the Jeremiah Program. “She has tremendous passion for this population, and the Jeremiah Program programming stays at the cutting-edge. Higher The Jeremiah Program was founded in 1998 in Minneapolis, education institutions across the country can learn a lot from Minnesota with eighteen family units. Perez helped to design Gloria,” said Lewis. the original program, and today, the Minneapolis campus

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The Breakfast Group:

Mexican-American Men in Lorain, Ohio

By Dr. Elena Foulis, Department of Spanish & Portuguese In June, I had the opportunity to interview a group of Mexican-American men for my oral history project. For over twenty years, these men have been meeting for breakfast

a test. I could begin to ask questions. I was reminded that collecting life history involves personal moments of exchange.

The lives of ordinary men such as Arturo (Art) Garcia, Amado (Moe) Peña, Joseph Osiel (Pepi) Gutierrez, Robert (Roberto) Magdaleno and, Alex (Ehco) Soto are, in fact, illuminated by each of the personal stories they tell together and as individuals.

They chronicle boyhood in south Lorain in the 1940s and 1950s as a time when everyone played, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company. Their perception of their neighborhood was not one of hardship and discrimination, even though most once a week to honor their friendship and the memories they of them came from working-class families. Although their have collectively gathered since childhood. Before I could even begin to ask questions of these lovely men, they began views evolved when they started high school, which was to interview me. They asked where I was from and why I was a place where students from all neighborhoods merged, they reflect positively on their formative experiences and doing this project. They were curious to know more about me, and expressed sincere interest in hearing the highlights how, in one way or another, they have invested time in their community. They preserve their own community’s traditions of where I grew up. Some of these men had lived in Texas and culture, but always in conversation with the larger and were familiar with the border towns I had mentioned; Lorain community. they nodded along when I mentioned those towns in conversation. Their behavior suggested that I had passed

Elena Foulis Brings Latin@ Stories To Ohio State In January and February 2015, Ohioans will have the opportunity to learn more about Latinos in the Midwest. We will be exhibiting oral history projects about Latinos in Ohio, a project directed by Dr. Elena Foulis from The Ohio State University. Her project is currently being archived at the Center For Folklore studies and some of her interviews were included in her eBook, Latin@ Stories Across Ohio; we will also feature the work of Dr. Theresa Delgadillo, also from The Ohio State University, about Latinas in Milwakee, which has resulted in a book entitled, Latina Lives in Milwaukee; and “Latinos in Rural Ohio,” a project directed by Dr. Clara Roman-Odio from Kenyon College.

Semester 13

Representing Medea:

My Summer Research at Ohio State

By Adriana Toledo, Junior, University of Puerto Rico I decided that I wanted to pursue graduate studies in literature when I took my first medieval literature class

increase the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds in graduate school, I knew I had to apply.

The project focused on medieval representations of the character of Medea. It undertook a close reading of the character in different medieval works to see how they compared to both the classical sources of the Medea character and to each other.

This research focused on the relationship between the magic that Medea is said to have wielded and how she is perceived and described in literature.

We postulated that medieval authors who portray Medea as wholly good or wholly bad tend to deemphasize her magical My first SROP experience was at the at the University of Puerto Rico. It powers. Those who present her as a University of Iowa during the Summer was one of those moments in which complex character place the greatest everything clicked for me. As I watched 2014. Although that research opportunity emphasis on her supernatural powers; did not intersect with my particular my professor lecture, imparting these versions are also closest to their interests, it was a very formative to us her ample knowledge with classical sources. We concluded that the experience. Since then, I had begun palpable enthusiasm and enjoyment, diverse portrayals of Medea complicate to consider OSU for my next SROP I immediately determined that I would our understanding of the misogyny research project. When I received my someday experience that pleasure. present in the Middle Ages—but not acceptance letter, I was very pleased. as one might expect. As we discovered, Within the vast field of medieval However, I also didn’t know what to portrayals of Medea as a good woman literature, I quickly gravitated toward expect. I knew that I was getting into a may be just as misogynistic as the gender studies. I am fascinated by lot of work—SROP programs are very portrayals of the figure as a contradictory portrayals of women and intensive—but I also knew that this heartless villainess. how those portrayals were influenced by opportunity would be very enriching for their historical moments. My bachelor’s me as an aspiring graduate student.

I presented this research at the OSU degree is in English and Comparative SROP Research Symposium in both a Literature, two fields that have permitted I may have been a veteran of SROP, but poster and oral presentation. When I I knew that this summer in Columbus me to explore medieval literature think back on this research experience, would be very different from the last. from interdisciplinary perspectives.

I feel that it was very enlightening. It Although I was accruing some research Not only would I be conducting research confirmed for me my desire to pursue in my area of choice, but I would also be graduate study of literature. With all experience at my home institution, I able to devise my own research project its vast resources and supportive wanted to explore my areas of interest in more nuanced ways that would more under the mentorship of Dr. Karen Columbus community, Ohio State was closely resemble the rigors of graduate Winstead, Professor, English, whose the ideal place for me to take this expertise in gender and comparative study. Thus, when I first heard about formative additional step toward my medieval studies would greatly the Summer Research Opportunities career goal. complement and enrich my studies.

Program, which endeavors to

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Spectatorship in Greater Mexico: An Interview with Laura Isabel Serna

By Mónica García Blizzard, PhD Candidate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese At the 2015 conference of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, I met with Dr. Laura Isabel Serna, Associate

Hollywood…The only stories I was familiar with were stories of stars like Dolores del Río or Lupe Vélez, and I wanted to know what these women were seeing. Everything I had heard about Mexican immigrants and film was that Mexicans encountered American films when they got to the United States, and not when they were in Mexico.

This story made me think that maybe there was something wrong with that account.

So, I was curious about both the motivation and the anxiety that the encounter with American mass media was causing, and why it was so troubling.

MB: Your book debunks the “yankee invasion” theory, which suggests that viewers were being Americanized. Does the book recover the spectator’s agency?

LS: I am interested in historical agency…I did want to recover in some sense the agency of people whose agency gets written out of history: everyday movie-goers or young women who don’t become famous. [That] oppositional gaze is multidirectional, it’s not only oppositional toward Hollywood, but also toward…the post-revolutionary Mexican state that made certain demands of people in terms of their national identification, their affiliation, what it meant to be a citizen, and what it meant to be patriotic.

MB: Your book discusses Mexican state censorship of American films. Why did this occur?

Professor, University of Southern LS: The ban on American films California, to discuss her book, was really an exercise in Making Cinelandia: American Films statesmanship…[intended to take] and Mexican Film Culture Before The the market away from the U.S. Golden Age (Duke UP, 2015). The book MB: Why have you focused on the so that it would have to improve explores spectatorship in Mexico during point of view of the spectator? its representations of Mexicans. the 1920s. Dr. Serna demonstrates that LS: I was interested in capturing the The concern was that these local Mexican audiences appropriated everyday person’s experience of representations were circulating onscreen models of gender and social cinema, rather than what maybe worldwide and Mexico was in a relations for their own purposes, a nationalist project that focuses process of state-building, so it generating a sense of self that was both on texts that represent the nation wanted other countries to have modern and Mexican. might tell us is important…I was confidence in it as an economic interested in spectatorship because partner, to respect it as a MB: How did this project come about?

I’m interested in people. It’s a hard civilized nation.

LS: The book looks at film culture, question to answer because the which means that it isn’t so much girl who worked in a factory who MB: Why was the state concerned about the films themselves; went to the movies every Thursday about female spectatorship? rather, it is about the activities and night did not leave her own writing LS: One of the things the revolution discussion that went with going or diary…So, I had to approach the hoped to do was to create this very to the movies in Mexico…I was topic obliquely by reading other solid citizenry. The family unit stood reading a newspaper, La Opinión... sorts of historical sources…in a wide as a synecdoche for the nation, and I came across an article about range of archives that most film and it required a certain kind of Mexican women going to the historians would not think of as a female presence in the form of Unites States to become stars in place to look for film history. reproducing a family and educating

Semester 15

children… So, when a star goes to Hollywood and represents the nation…that’s public diplomacy, but when a girl leaves her family for a world that is perceived as [representing] sex and unbridled consumerism, then that’s a cause for concern. So the state tries to recuperate, as in the golden era of Mexican cinema, when the [onscreen] representations… offered appropriate models of femininity or masculinity.

MB: Why did you decided to approach spectatorship transnationally?

LS: Using the transnational lens… allowed me to interrogate the nation as a given, and see it as something that is always in the process of being produced by different historical actors who have different interests…Culture does not stop at the border; there isn’t a big wall that stops culture from passing back and forth. In order to understand what that traffic of ideas, images, or people

means we need to resituate our lens geographically, and that’s what I hope to do…I really took this [approach] out of the archive.

This is what the archive was telling me about what people wrote in Spanish language newspapers on both sides of the border; you can track letters that came and went from Compton, California to Mexico City. So, people were reading the same things. They were in conversation about cinema and what it could mean.

Lonny Rivera

Becomes First Latino Superintendent in Ohio

By Leticia Wiggins, PhD Candidate, History On April 27th, 2015, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) welcomed former Oregon City School Superintendent, Lonny Rivera, to the rank of Associate Superintendent.

“While I am physically leaving Oregon, I will continue to work on behalf of this community in Columbus,” Rivera noted, paying tribute to the Oregon City School District, where he attended elementary through high school.

An Oregon native, Rivera’s connections to the community are long-standing. After earning his bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Cleveland State University in 1996, he returned to Northwestern Ohio to pursue his graduate studies in education. There, he attended the University of Toledo, where he earned a master’s degree in Education and Supervision in 2000 and his PhD in Education Administration and Supervision in 2009.

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Upon graduation, Rivera found work in the area as principal of Wayne Trail Elementary School in Maumee, Ohio before taking over as superintendent of Oregon Schools in August 2013. During his time as superintendent of Oregon City Schools, he developed the Oregon Schools Foundation, which collaborated with local business communities on establishing potential vocation programs, and established new building leadership in the district.

Following Rivera’s appointment as superintendent of Oregon City Schools in 2013, he now holds the distinction of the first Latino to be appointed to the position of school superintendent in Northwest Ohio. Raised to identify as “a Christian first, and an American second,” Rivera notes that in addition to these two modifiers, his Latino identity has influenced his worldview. The son of a Latino migrant worker and his mother, who was of German descent, Rivera acknowledges his family’s history of hard work and strife.

Rivera brings definite tenacity to his new role as Associate Superintendent for the state, a drive he’s long attributed to the work ethic instilled in him while he was wrestling in High School and college. He is committed to working to represent communities like Oregon’s School District which are currently bearing the brunt of changing educational policies “in areas ranging from funding to unfunded mandated educational requirements.”

Casimiro Suárez:

Gymnast, Leader, Coach Por: Jake Martín, Junior, Political Science and International Studies Era un día típico en Cárdenas Matanza, Cuba, caliente y soleado, cuando el joven, Casimiro Suárez, entró en un gimnasio para ver la práctica de su hermano, y su vida

cambió para siempre. “Porque era muy intranquilo,” comenta Casimiro, “con el inicio de la prueba [de mi hermano], yo empecé lo mismo. Los profesores le hacían una cosa a [mi hermano] y me miraban a mí. Le decían una cosa a él, [y yo] ataqué a lo que dijeron.” Sorprendidos por ese rostro desconocido, los entrenadores encontraron a su madre para decirle que ellos les iban a hacer la prueba a ambos hijos. Al final de la prueba, determinaron que no estaban interesados en su hermano sino en él. “Mi tío se puso muy bravo,” dijo Casimiro, “porque la ilusión de él era que yo fuera un pelotero. Un buen pelotero.” Casimiro, solo teniendo seis años, fué a realizar su propia carrera como gimnasta. “Yo entré directo a la escuela de gimnasia sin haber practicado anteriormente.”

La vida en la escuela nacional era un sueño comparado al estándar de vida de fuera. Esta era completa, con todos los servicios que uno pudiera imaginar. “Éramos atletas especiales. Nosotros teníamos ropa, teníamos comida, entonces eso era una tranquilidad para nuestros padres.”

A pesar de esto, los primeros meses fueron difíciles para el joven, especialmente porque no visitaba a su familia con mucha frecuencia.

Desde una edad joven, Casimiro ha tenido una enorme responsabilidad hacia su país y su familia. “Nunca me daba estrés. Al contrario, me daba fuerza para hacer las cosas correctamente porque sabía que de mí dependia que mi familia tubiera una vida un poco mejor. Eso me hizo ser un poco diferente que otras personas, como que tenía más disciplina... Para mí la disciplina fue la cosa que me ayudó, no solo para la gimnasia sino para mi vida, porque de la forma que soy, es por la disciplina.” Casimiro recordaba la fuerza de la familia.

Las competencias fueron iguales. “Para mí la competencia era como un baile al que vas a divertirte y mostrar que sabes bailar.”

Casimiro ha logrado mucho y ha sido nombrado un líder, no solo para la gimnasia cubana sino para la gimnasia latinoamericana. “Es increíble, porque todavía la gente me recuerda mucho, ya que tuve una época muy grande en la gimnasia cubana.” Él recuerda que “de el año 1979, yo dominaba la gimnasia en Latinoamérica hasta el año de 1990. Yo ganaba todas las competencias. Es una cosa muy orgullosa. Siempre ellos me buscan para hablar, y eran muy sociables conmigo. Es una satisfacción grande.”

Hoy en día, ese americano, nacido en Cuba, es uno de los atletas más consumados de Latinoamérica. Casimiro es un gimnasta reverenciado y ahora es un dedicado entrenador en The Ohio State University. Casimiro pasa todo el día aquí en el gimnasio, haciendo trabajo administrativo, y entrenando no solo el equipo universitario, sino también el equipo de club. Incluso ahora mientras él hace esta entrevista, sigue entrenando, aconsejando y corrigiendo a los gimnastas entre cada una de sus respuestas.

At an early age, Casimiro Suárez had been poised for success in gymnastics. After an illustrious career at the competitive level in Cuba, he now trains aspiring gymnasts at The Ohio State University.

Semester 17

Community Arts University Without Walls: Puerto Rico 2016

By Sonia BasSheva MaĂąjon, Associate Professor and Director, Barnett Center Community Arts University Without Walls (CAUWW) is a special course of study in Puerto Rico for those interested in learning how cultural arts engage issues of social justice

between cultural arts advocates in Puerto Rico and CAUWW participants will provide the opportunity for research sharing, community work experiences, comparative strategies, and Community Arts University Without Walls 2015 Attendees (Top to bottom and left to right): Lorie Caval, Regina BultrĂłn Bengoa, Nichole Acosta Nemergut, Jacinda Walker Janet Sackey, Chanel Rigby, Melanie (Tour Guide), Imani Nunez, and Ify Chiejina joint initiatives. Most important, students and advocates will dialogue with international and Puerto Rican cultural arts colleagues to develop a working network for cultural arts advocacy.

within communities. Taught by renowned community experts and scholars grounded in the arts, public policy, and advocacy, courses will present students with best practices for positively and significantly contributing to community diversity.

Whom does CAUWW serve?

CAUWW was created for those who are working within their core communities or who are committed to cultural arts as a mechanism for change in community-grounded programs and institutions focused on justice and equity. Cultural arts advocates will acquire new cultural arts transformative strategies, thereby to enhance their contributions within their programs, organizations, and communities. Exchanges

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The Community Arts Imperative: The Right to Cultural Equity, Arts Policy and Advocacy in Puerto Rico (3 credits) This course offers a special program of study for those interested in the impact and role of cultural arts in engaging issues of social justice within communities. Renowned community experts and scholars culturally grounded in the arts, public policy, and advocacy will present and engage with students on best practices that have made positive and significant contributions to diverse communities. Coursework will develop an understanding of community-based initiatives, varied narratives, and organizational frameworks that assure the recognition of the heritage and legacies of cultural communities.

Directed by Dr. Sonia BasSheva Manjon, OSU Barnett Center for Integrated Arts & Enterprise, Arts Administration, Education & Policy, and Latina/o Studies; Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Founder & President Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, NYU Tisch School of The Arts; and Dr. Maria Elba Torres MuĂąoz, Inter American University of Puerto Rico Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, University of Puerto Rico.

Course Dates: June 14th – July 6th, 2016 Travel Dates: June 19th – July 2nd, 2016

Course Activities Guest Lecturers:

Field Trips:

• • • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

• • • • • •

Antonio Carrion, DIVEDCO Palmira Rios, Political Historian David Zayas, Visual artist and educator Victor Ortiz, Community Organizer Maria De Mater O’Neill, Rubberband PR Design Studio Panama Alba, Member of the Young Lords Party Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Inter American University Pedro Lugo, Student Activist University of Puerto Rico Samuel Lind, Visual artist and cultural activist Maricruz Rivera Clemente, Social worker and founder of COPI/Coorporación Piñones se Integra Antonio Martorell, Artist, writer and television personality Abey Charrón- Photographer and visual artist Felix De Portu Bravo, Visual artist and founder of Artist Collective eltaller.de Chemi Rosado Seijo, Artist Collective eltaller.de Edgardo Larregui, Visual artist and educator, founder of el Coco De Oro Yasmin Hernández, Visual artists and activist

• • • • • • • • • •

Street Art District of Santurce, San Juan Puerto Rico Studio Sol, Mar y Sereno, Santurce Street Art District of Río Piedras, San Juan Puerto Rico Antonio Martorell’s Studio, Ponce, Puerto Rico Community Museum in Barrio San Salvador, Caguas Puerto Rico La Cuarta, Ponce Puerto Rico Cooperativa Piñones se Integra (COPI), Pinones, PR Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, San Juan Museo de las Americas, San Juan Cuartel de Ballajá, Old San Juan University of Puerto Rico Samuel Lind’s Studio and Gallery, Loiza, Puerto Rico El Yunque Rain Forest, Luquillo, Puerto Rico Caguas’ Museum District, Caguas, Puerto Rico Botanical Garden Caguas, Puerto Rico.

For more information, contact Dr. Manjon at manjonvanewyk.1@osu.edu

Semester 19

Recognizing Excellence at Ohio State Honors and Awards Frederick Aldama, English and LASER Founder, Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education: Research/Teaching in Higher Education Award.

Tatiana F. Hernández, Individual Program of Study, Latino Studies 2015 Paper Award for “Salvadoran Deportation and Criminalization.”

Victoria Muñoz was awarded an English Department Dissertation Completion Fellowship for the Spring 2016.

----. Outstanding Faculty Award for Research and Teaching by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE).

Latino and Latin American Space for Research (LASER) was chosen as Bright Spot in Hispanic Education by the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics.

Emily M. Newell (2015) International student-athlete adjustment issues: Advising recommendations for effective transitions. NACADA Journal: Fall, Vol. 35, No. 2, In Press.

LASER Sol-Con Comix Expo was featured in The Washington Post. “Can Comics Unite Minority Students? Today, Sol-Con Founder Tests His Belief.”

2 Oct. 2015.

Jennifer Patritti-Cram, Junior, Neuroscience, was named Pelotonia Cancer Research Fellow 2015.

Verónica E. Betancourt, Spanish and Portuguese, $2000 Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship.

Eizayah Bull, 2015 Ohio State Homecoming Court Member.

Nicole Espinoza de Montreuil , LASER Scholar and South-Western City Schools Senior, was selected to participate Ohio DECA Summer Leadership Retreat which prepares Ohio DECA members for careers in Marketing Education.

Neil Ramirez, LASER and LSAMP Scholar, was selected to participate in the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s 2015 National Leadership Conference in Los Angeles California.

Luís F. Macías, Teaching and Learning, Latina/o Studies 2015 Best Graduate Research Paper Award for “Racial Naturalization (and formation) of Latinas/ Theresa Rojas defended her os in the Midwestern U.S.” dissertation, “Manifold Imaginaries: Latino Intermedial Narratives in the Anastasia Martinez, Public Affairs, Delia M. Fernandez, History, Latina/o met with Senator Sherrod Brown while Twenty-first Century” this summer and Studies 2015 Graduate Student Award participating in the John Glenn Fellows was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Comparative Media Studies at MIT for Outstanding Service program in Washington, D.C. for 2015-16.

Verónica Flores, Spanish and Manny Martinez, Associate Professor, -----, a/b: Auto/Biography Studies: Comparative Studies, Latina/o Studies English, won the 2015 American Book Timothy Dow Adams Award, and 2015 Outstanding Undergraduate Award for Los Duros.

Journal Essay Mentorship, 2015.

Research Paper Award for “Tejano Yalidy M. Matos, Political Science, Identity in Forgetting the Alamo, or Latina/o Studies 2015 Graduate Student Christopher Torres, LASER Scholar, was Blood Memory.” quoted by The Atlantic. “The Need for Award for Outstanding Service.

More Professors of Color.” 14 Oct. 2015.

Monica Gaudier-Diaz, Neuroscience, Jocelyne Muñoz, LASER Scholar and travel scholarship from the Society for Leticia Wiggins, was selected as a Ohio Wesleyan University student, Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos fellow for the Mellon grant funded conducted research this summer and Native Americans in Science.

“Humanities Without Walls Summer through Ohio State’s Language of Institute” July - August 2015.

Nicolás Fernández Gil, LASER Scholar, Science and Science of Language was invited to participate in the Hispanic undergraduate research program.

Renato Zato, Young Grower of the Association of Colleges and Universities Year, 2015.

Annual Conference in Miami.

20 quepasa.osu.edu

¿Qué Pasa, OSU? Recognizes Frederick Aldama Frederick Aldama is an internationally renowned scholar with twenty-three published books, and a research agenda that spans narrative theory and cognitive science to film, popular culture, and Latino comics. Professor Aldama is committed to advancing innovative approaches to teaching and mentoring, and to building institutional structures for expanding Latino access to and success in higher education. This year, Dr. Aldama was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education Award for Research and Teaching by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). In addition, the Latina/o and Latin American Space for Enrichment and Research (LASER) program, founded and directed by Dr. Aldama, was chosen as a Bright Spot in Higher Education by the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics.

Faculty Promotions -------. Invited speaker. Listening to Latina/os: Visitor and Non-Visitor Values, Perceptions, and Experiences Natividad Ruiz, Microbiology, Associate in Museum Contexts. Smithsonian Professor with Tenure Latino Center. 23 July 2015.

Asuncion Mejias, Pediatrics, Associate Professor with Tenure

Publications and Presentations Aldama, Frederick, ed. Critical Approaches to the Films of Robert Rodriguez. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015.

----. Latino/a Literature in the Classroom: 21st Century Approaches to Teaching. Routledge, 2015.

Barragan, Adrian, J. D. Workman, S. Bas, K. L. Proudfoot, and G. M. Schuenemann. “Assessment of An Application to Collect Calving Related Events in Dairy Herds.” Journal of Dairy Science. 98.328 (2015).

Betancourt, Verónica E. “From Nelson Mandela: A Gender Coded Semiotic Reading of a South African Tourist Necklace.” Visual Culture & Gender 10 (2015): 6-19. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.

Delgado de la Flor, Yvan , and Matthew D. Johnson. “Influence of Invasive European Beachgrass on Mesopredator Activity in the Coastal Dunes of Northern California.” Western Wildlife (2015):29-34.

Cosentino, Olivia. “Güeros (Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mexico, 2014).” Web Blog Post. Mediático. School of Media, Film and Music at the University of Sussex, 5 Jul. 2015. Web. 21 Jul. 2015.

Cosentino, Olivia. “La negociación del afecto: El triángulo amoroso y la producción del voyerismo en Cumbia callera (2007),” Primer Encuentro Internacional de Investigadores de Cine Mexicano e Iberoamericano, Cineteca Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico, June 2526, 2015. She received a grant from the Spanish and Portuguese Department.

Esquivel, Carlos J., Cassone, B. J., & Piermarini, P. M. Transcriptomic evidence for dramatic functional transition of the Malpighian Tubules after a blood meal in the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus. Plos Negl Trop Dis. 8.6 (2014).

Kemper, Rebecca, “Neighborhood Disorder or Resiliency? Analyzing Crime Patterns Using Agent-based Modeling.”Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Houston, TX. October 24, Muñoz, Victoria. Roundtable speaker and presenter. “Medievalism in the General Education Curriculum.” Studies in Medievalism Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. 2 Oct. 2015.

Zepeda, Yolanda. Invited speaker.

2015 WELD Women You Should Know Emerging Professionals’ Series.

Columbus, OH. 10 Nov. 2015.

Semester 21

Summer and Spring 2015 Graduates Associates Brittney A, Butler, AA, Chemical Engineering Alberto Gabriel, Ciccola Fernandez, AA, International Studies Juan Manuel, Cortes-Fontcuberta, AA, Arts and Science Carrie Alexandra, Kerscher, AA, International Studies Cristina Maria, Lopez, AA, Logistics Management Regina L., Lyons, AA, Education-Early Childhood Education Derek Eli, Miller, AA, Crop Management and Soil Conservation Francinny Titara, Oliveira, AA, International Business Administration Orlando Jose, Ruiz, AA, Arts and Science Nicholas David, Wymer,AA, Psychology

Bachelors

Madison Katherine, Aballi, BS, Nursing Juan Manuel, Abel, BA, International Studies Byanka Nataly, Aguirre, BS, Social Work Laura Elena, Ah Sing, BS, Pharmaceutical Sciences Adam Joseph, Alfonso, BA, Communication Angel Blake, Algarin, BA, Spanish Stephanie M, Alonso Rodriguez, BS, Agricultural Communication Alec Raymond, Alvarez, BS, Astronomy and Astrophysics Carolina, Alvarez, BS, Animal Sciences Ajit Kumar, Amesur,BS, Biology Rebecca, Anderson, BA, English Natalia Maria, Ardila, BA, Psychology Antonio Jose, Armas, BS, Economics Samantha E, Arrowsmith, BA, Psychology Paloma Z, Arroyo, BA, Political Science Angello Martin, Astorga, BS, Computer Science and Engineering Rachel Elizabeth, Astorino, BA, Psychology Elleni Gabrielle, Avila, BA, Art Management Ariel Marie, Balske, BA, Sociology Spencer James, Barker, BA, Political Science

22 quepasa.osu.edu

Jennifer Aurymae, Belk, BS, Nursing Aubrey Carolyn, Beltran, BA, Political Science Seleina Leandra, Beltran, BA, Biology Nia N, Blevins, BS, Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability Marina Rocha, Bonorino, BA, Political Science Rosa Maria, Botello, BS, Social Work Nicholas Lionel, Bournigal, BS, Industrial and Systems Engineering Isabel Katherine, Bozada, BS, Education-Early Childhood Education Andrew Joseph, Braun, BS, Microbiology Lauren Brianna, Brown, BS, Neuroscience Jackie Marie, Buckley, BA, Communication Brooke Elizabeth, Burrows, BS, Natural Resources Management Eduardo Alexander, CalzadillaKolodziej, BS, Materials Science and Engineering Eduardo Alexander, CalzadillaKolodziej, BS, Materials Science and Engineering Matthew James, Cannon, BA, Biochemistry Ralph Richard, Cantore, BS, Construction Systems Management Ralph Richard, Cantore, BS, Natural Resources Management Beatris Xiomara, Carballo, BA, International Studies Raquel C, Carneiro, BS, Fashion and Retail Studies Patricia Ann, Castillo, BS, Marketing Brittney, Castro, BS, Architecture Gabriella, Ciccola, BS, Psychology Ciara Margaret, Clarke, BA, Psychology Matthew Alexander, Clemente, BS, Marketing Marissa Renee, Colon, BA, International Studies Tiffany Alexis, Colon, BS, Chemical Engineering Bradley Gabel, Conner, BS, Marketing Roberto Andre, Contreras, BS, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

Maria, Corfias, BS, Neuroscience Aldo Ignacio, Corona, BS, Fashion and Retail Studies Gabrielle Elizabeth, Corpus, BA, Political Science Alejandro Jose, Correa, BS, Pharmaceutical Sciences Esmeralda, Cortes, BA, Psychology Lorena, Lee Couch, BS, Biology Karlos Mayiel, Covarrubias, BS, Biology Nicholas, Miller Cox, BS, Social Work Monica Gabrielle, Cruz, BS, Medical Dietetics Haley, Michell De Leon, BS, Social Work Annelise Mary, Del Rio, BS, Zoology Spencer Stephen, DeLacy, BS, Pharmaceutical Sciences Christopher Robert, Deliz, BS, Computer Science and Engineering Erika Renee, Dickinson, BS, Finance Alexa Rose, Doerfler, BA, Psychology Jose Angel, Dominguez, BA, Psychology Marcus Manuel, Dunn, BS, Electrical and Computer Engineering Jessica Leigh, Edelstein, BA, Public Affairs Joseph Carl, Edgerton, BS, Health Sciences Program Carolyn Mary, Encarnacion, BA, Speech and Hearing Science Valencia Marissa, Espinoza, BS, Marketing Haley Elizabeth, Feck, BA, Middle Childhood Education Susan Leanne, Feliciano, BS, Fashion and Retail Studies Christopher, Field, BS, Education Sport Industry Alexander Henry, Fischbach, BS, Neuroscience Christina V, Flores, BA, Korean Veronica, Flores, BA, Spanish Ciera Casandra, Fluker, BS, Human Resources Courtney E, Forchione, BA, French Shanah Erica, Frankel, BS, Animal Sciences Ashley Marie, Fuchs, BA, Psychology Morgan Marie, Gamble, BS, Psychology

Alessa, Garcia, BS, Economics Business Sarah Marie, Garvin, BA, Japanese Kathleen Elizabeth, Gastell, BS, Animal Sciences Clintina Louise, Glick, BA, Psychology Gabrielle J, Gomez, BFA, Dance Shelby Marie, Gonzales, BA, Art Education Jonathan Kenneth, Gonzalez, BS, Biology Nicole Viviana, Gonzalez, BS, Nursing Adam Jared, Gorski, BS, Marketing Kristen Andrea, Gramajo, BA, Psychology Melody Kay, Grames, BA, International Studies Nataly, Gutierrez, BA, Psychology Lee William, Gutierrez, BS, Psychology Emily E, Gutierrez, BS, Marketing Alyssa Nicole, Gutierrez, BS, Marketing Lizbeth, Gutierrez, BS, Consumer and Family Financial Services Alexandra Marie, Haffner, BS, Nursing Samuel Christian, Halter, BA, Political Science Kevin Charles, Hardesty, BS, Materials Science and Engineering Kevin Charles, Hardesty, BS, Medical Laboratory Science Mariah Alyssa, Hashbarger, BS, Human Nutrition Shannon Olivia, Hedge, BS, Evolution & Ecology Matthew James, Hendrix, BA, Film Studies Alexia Christine, Hernandez, BA, Speech and Hearing Science Gabriella Amorette, Hernandez, BA, Art Ruben, Hernandez Story, BA, International Studies Nicole Elena, Hipolito, BA, Communication Barbara Trindade, Hodgdon, BA, Psychology Kaitlan Nicole, Hovis, BS, Animal Sciences Teresa Guadalupe, Ibanez, BS Psychology Andrea Marie, Insinga, BA, Psychology

Michael Dwight, Jenkins, BS, Accounting Alexandra Nicole, Jones, BA International Studies Corinne, Flores Jones, BA, City and Regional Planning Joseph John, Jones, BA, Economics Nicholas A, Julian, BS, Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability Natalia Nicole, Jurcak, BS, Animal Sciences Carmen Elizabeth, Keeton, BS, Chemical Engineering Kevin, Kitchen, BS, Accounting Sara Elizabeth, Koelsch, BS, Biology Anthony Edward, Lopez Konold, BS, Microbiology Emily Nicole, Kurczyn, BS, Early and Middle Childhood Studies Mark Andrew, Lampert, BS, Biochemistry Derek Miguel, Lancashire, BA, Human Resource Management Joseph Dominic, Lieske, BS, Real Estate and Urban Analysis Erica Marie, Lucas, BS, Nursing Marina Elisa, Lucio, BS, Medical Dietetics Daniel, Ludi, BA, Biology Simon, Lui, BS, Electrical and Computer Engineering Alexander Joseph, Luke, BS, Marketing Anna Marie, Lupica, BS, Accounting Tassiana Galvao, Maloof, BS, Biology Josabeth Midia, Martin, BS, Teaching & Learning Josabeth Midia, Martin, BS, Early and Middle Childhood Studies Liana Marie, Martinez, BA, Spanish Clara Lucia, Martinez, BFA, Dance Miguel Angel, Martinez, BS, Biology Marques Kimo, Mayoras, BS, Computer Science and Engineering Raymond Edward, McGahan, BS, Neuroscience Matthew Saul, McKenzie, BA, History Hannah, McNamara, BS, Human Development and Family Science Madison Gabriella, Melinek, BA, Political Science

David Gabriel, Melvin, BS, Sport and Leisure Studies Dylan Ryan, Mireles, BA, Criminology Angela Elizabeth, Montgomery, BA, Psychology Kevin Patricio, Mora, BS, Biology Camila Maria, Moreno, BA, International Studies Michael, Moreno, BS, Hospitality Management Caleb, Chappell Morgan, BA, Geography Lizeth, Morton, BS, Education - Foreign Language Education Sara Elizabeth, Muschkin, BS, Human Nutrition Stefanie, Negron, BA, Communication Monica A, Nicholson, BA, Criminology Mauricio, Mata Nieto, BS, Food, Agricultural & Biological Engineering Isaac, Nivar, BS, Biomedical Engineering Ilana, Nurko, BS, Human Nutrition David Lee, Obregon, BA, Psychology Evan Daniel, O’Brien, BS, Welding Engineering Samantha Ashlee, O’Donnell, BA, Communication Kyle R, Oleksiw, BS, Marketing Ruth, Orellana, BA, Criminology Joe, Ortega, BA, Social Sciences Air Transportation Hannah Elizabeth, Ortega, BA, Spanish Aldo Ramiro, Ortega, BS, Industrial and Systems Engineering Cristina Maria, Ortiz Villabona, BS, Biology Alexander Matthew, Otero, BA, Political Science Zachary Berry, Paganini, BA, Geography Nicole, Malto Pangilinan, BS, Chemical Engineering Kevin, Perez, BA, Spanish Martin, Perez, BA, Finance Alexandra Maria, Perez, BA, Biology, Psychology Isaac Mordechai, Perez, BA, English Martin, Perez, BS, Finance Tomas, Perez, BS, Accounting Claudia Maria, Perez Rosa, BS, Accounting

Spring 23

Thomas D, Phillips, BA, Public Affairs Joseph Eric, Pineiro, BA, Philosophy Gabriel Antonio, QuinonesBetancourt, BS, Biology Maria Elena, Ramirez, BA, Sociology Brayson W, Ramirez, BS, Pharmaceutical Sciences Katherine Michele, Ramos, BS, Finance Medina Bassam, Rasul, BS, Biology Maria, Reckziegel, BA, Food Science and Technology Robert Blas, Reed, BA, Political Science Stephan Albert, Reyes, BS, Molecular Genetics David Louis, Rich, BS, Biology Daniel, Lemos Riquino, BA, Linguistics Clara Marie, Rivera, BA, Speech and Hearing Science Mackdiel, Rivera, BS, Civil Engineering Roger Neftali, Roblero, BA, Communication Sharon Diann, Rodriguez, BS, Health Information Management and Systems Anne Marie, Rodriguez, BS, Health Sciences Program Cecilia, Rodriguez, BS, Industrial and Systems Engineering Karina Angelica, Rubio, BFA, Art Orlando Jose, Ruiz, BA, International Studies Tehja Arianne, Rush-Pagan, BS, Marketing Joshua Alan, Sabo, BA, History Jessica Nicole, Salazar BS, Industrial and Systems Engineering Elvis, Saldias Villarroel, BA, Political Science Roberto Antonio, Samaniego, BS, Industrial and Systems Engineering Melissa Karina, Sanchez, BS, Economics Luis Felipe, Sanchez, BS, Logistics Management Sarah, Sandoval, BA, Linguistics Anna Marie, Sarmina, BS, Dental Hygiene Amber Halley, Sattelberg, BS, Animal Sciences Paige Nicole, Schaffer, BS, Neuroscience Iony Danielle, Schmidt, BS, Psychology Erica Christine, Schulz, BA, English Harrison Dean, Sciulli, BS, Biochemistry John Tyler, Segovia, BA, Psychology Emily, Selio, BA, Spanish, Speech and Hearing Science

24 quepasa.osu.edu

Abeir Jebreel, Shalash, BS, Pharmaceutical Sciences Alexander Justice, Shapiro, BA, International Studies Jeremiah Joseph, Shaw, BS, Medicine Jeremiah Joseph, Shaw, BS, Biomedical Science Christina Elizabeth, Shea, BA, Sociology Jessica Xiomara, Simmons, BA, Chemistry Brandon Robert, Smith, BS, Operations Management Gabriel Antonio, Soliz, BS, Physical Education Erica Marie, Sotelo, BS, Human Development and Family Science Brian A, Soto, BA,Nursing Jailyn Zoraida, Soto-Quintana, BA, Political Science Angela Rose, Sprung, BS, Nursing Jessie Elizabeth, Stewart, BS, Human Resources Sabrina Nicole, Tejeda, BS, Early and Middle Childhood Studies Andrew Charles Harold, Todd-Smith, BA, Journalism Yanira Elizabeth, Torres, BA, Personalized Study Program - ASC Alexis Nicole, Torres, BA, English Aleni C, Torres, BS, Accounting Melissa Nicole, Trejo, BS, Accounting Angelina Nicole, Trevino, BA, Communication Nicholas Anthony, Triana, BS, Engineering Physics Marisa Ann, Turk, BA, Speech and Hearing Science Angela Kay, Urdaneta, BS, Physics Marcos Daniel, Valencia, BA, Psychology Luis Enrique, Vargas, BS, Accounting Gabrielle Marie, Vasquez, BS, Chemical Engineering Bryan, Vega, BA, Economics Jose Antonio, Villa-Cruz, BS, Human Resources Gina Marie, Volpe, BS, Environmental Science Melissa Sue, Wiles, BS, Public Health Elizabeth Louise, Willis, BS, Electrical and Computer Engineering Melina Marie, Yagel, BS, Human Development and Family Science Michael Trell, Yocum, BA, Political Science

Luke Edward, Zamarripa, BS, Electrical and Computer Engineering Anelise, Zamarripa-Zoucha, BS, Nursing Weston Michael, Zernechel, BS, Education - Sport Industry

Masters

Andrea Elizabeth, Ankney, MS, Social Work Jane Kelli, Aparecido, MA, Law Laura Isabel, Aparicio, MS, Agricultural, Environmental & Developmental Economics Javier Roman, Arias Correa, MA, Law John Joseph, Bain, MS, Public Policy and Management Renata Deolinda, Baptista, MA, Educational Policy & Leadership Diego David, Barrezueta Del Carpio, MS, Law Carlos Fabian, Benitez-Quiroz, MS, Electrical and Computer Engineering Andres, Bohorquez Restrepo, MS, Horticulture and Crop Science Ayendy Jose, Bonifacio Peralta, MA, English Jeffrey Ryan, Bose, MS, Nursing Tania Denisse, Burgos-Hernandez, MS, Environment and Natural Resources Rafael, Calderon Candelario, MS, Medical Science Aided, Ceballo, MA, Law Francisco Clemente, Vicario, MS, Comparative and Veterinary Medicine Derek A, Conliffe, MBA, Business Administration Carlos Luis, Cruz, MA, Communication Jessica Elizabeth, Diallo, MA, Public Policy and Management Bryant, Dossman, MS, Environment and Natural Resources Lianne Judith, Dottin, MS, Human Resource Management Melvyn Ian, Drag, MA, Mathematical Sciences Joshua, Amaro Dunn, MA, Communication Nicholas Jonathan, Espinosa, MA, Architecture Carlos Josue, Esquivel Palma, MS, Entomology Eva Rebeca, Fabian, MS, Public Health Naisha Yaney, Feliciano-Moragon, MA, Educational Studies Zaide, Feliciano-Muniz, MS, Biomedical Engineering

Nicholas, Flores, MA, Comparative Studies Sarah Maria, Fortin, MS, Nursing Charles William, Fox, MS, Architecture Alexandria Paige, Fraga, MA, Sociology Chanta, Garcia, MS, Social Work Michael John, Gomez, MBA, Business Administration Kadi Marie, Gonzalez, MS, Nursing Hugo Jose, Gonzalez Villasanti, MS, Electrical and Computer Engineering Doris Mercedes, Grillo-Gonzalez, MBA, Business Administration Rachel Marie, Guillen, MS, Social Work Marco Antonio, Gutierrez, MBA, PartTime Business Administration Adam, Braun Haywood, MS, Teaching & Learning Nicole Marie, Hernandez, MA, Anthropology Lindsey Cooper, Hutton, MS, Social Work Alejandra, Iberico Lozada, MBA, Business Administration Manuel Antonio, Jacquez, MA, English Natalie Gloria, Jarecki, MBA, Business Administration Seung Hwan, Kim Lee, MA, Educational Studies Yrineo, Longoria, MS, Architecture Hailey Elizabeth, Lopez, MA, Educational Studies Aaron Michael, Lopez, MFA, Theatre Horacio Daniel, Lopez Nicora, MS, Plant Pathology Elena Sophia, Maietta, MS, Music Julie Anna, Margolis, MA, Anthropology Celia, Martinez Saez, MA, Spanish & Portuguese Caitlyn Teresa, McLoughlin, MA, English Raquel Anett, Mercado, MS, Teaching & Learning, Human Development and Family Science Rebecca Ann, Molinar, MS, Teaching & Learning Daniel, Byron Morales, MA, Educational Studies Monica Lizet, Morales Neira, MA, Law Samantha Quinn, Murillo, MPA, Public Policy and Management Marco, Palacio, MBA, Business Administration Susan M, Perez, MA, Educational StudiesElizabeth Ann-Marie, Po, MS, Social Work

Mabi, Ponce de Leon, MA, History of Art Eric Thomas, Przybylowicz, MS, Welding Engineering Matthew Allen, Quijada, MS, Architecture Akeyla Dawn, Ragland, MA, Teaching & Learning Emanuele, Rizzi, MA, Psychology Marcos Bernardo, Rodrigues, MA, Law Gerardo Antonio, Salazar, MS, Mechanical Engineering Daniel Antonio, Sanchez, MS, Chemistry Sara Elena, Santiago, MA, Educational Studies Cesar A, Seguil, MA, Educational Studies Scott, Singer, MS, Accounting Jamie Lyn, Smith, MFA, English Claudia Lorena, Suarez,MS, Accounting Gabriella Anabel, Ubilla, MS, Teaching & Learning Luis Enrique, Vargas, MS, Accounting Lila Michelle, Vernikoff, MS, Nursing Mateo Amaral, Williamson, MPA Public Policy and Management Laura Mariana, Zuchovicki, MA, Educational Studies

Doctorate Fernanda, Martins De Abreu, PHD, Comparative and Veterinary Medicine Valeria Cristina, Artuso Ponte, PHD, Veterinary Medicine Leandro Henrique, Cruppe, PHD, Animal Sciences Carlos L, Del Rio, PHD, Electrical and Computer Engineering Alexander, Gotthard Real, PHD, Economics Omar Ernesto, Mora, PHD, Civil Engineering Ligia, Ravenna Pinheiro, PHD, Dance Studies Diego Fernando, Rincon Rueda, PHD, Entomology John Manuel, Sosa, PHD, Materials Science and Engineering Joany Cristina, Van Balen Rubio, PHD, Comparative and Veterinary Medicine Jessica Erin, Lybarger, OD, Optometry Lina, Caicedo, MD, Medicine Diana Daled, Carrau, MD, Medicine Mary, Carmen Garcia, MD, Medicine Kathleen, Seretan Hateley, MD, Medicine

Brent Victor, Martinez, MD, Medicine George Thomas, Matic, MD, Medicine Adam Michael, Montagna, MD, Medicine Maria E, Mora, MD, Medicine Jonathan Paul, Navar, MD, Medicine Pedro, Pineda, MD, Medicine Lauren Elizabeth, Sall, MD, Medicine Darab, Zarrabi, MD, Medicine Orlay, Alonso, DMA, Music Jose C, Bautista, JD, Law Pedro A, Contreras, JD, Law Omar A, De La Rosa, JD, Law Leah Teresa, Eberle, JD, Law Omar, Figueroa-Valle, DDS, Dentistry Angela Andrea, Gomez Romero, DDS, Dentistry Chelsea, Grabarz, DDS, Dentistry Alexandra, Farah Griffin, DDS, Dentistry Duren Ray, Gutierrez, DNP, Nursing Practice Talisa A, Gutierrez, JD, Law Monica Livramento, Magnani, DVM, Veterinary Medicine Michael Paul, Martinez, DVM, Veterinary Medicine Paoul, Sean, Martinez, DVM, Veterinary Medicine Diane Marie, McCombie, DVM, Veterinary Medicine Alvaro, Ontiveros, JD, Law Mary Margaret, Ormsby, DVM, Veterinary Medicine Christina Marie, Otero, JD, Law Valerie Ann, Rose, DVM, Veterinary Medicine Kwesi A, Seabrook, JD, Law Yaima, Seigley, JD, Law Daniel Wayne, Smith, DDS, Dentistry Emmalee Kathleen, Taricska, DPT, Physical Therapy Steven John, Umana, JD, Law Liliana I, Vasquez, JD, Law Joshowa L, Yost, JD, Law

Spring 25

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PAID

¿Qué Pasa, OSU? The Ohio State University Hale Hall, Suite 300 154 West 12th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210-1132

COLUMBUS, OHIO PERMIT NO. 711

¿Qué Pasa, OSU? welcomes submissions at any time. Contact us at quepasa@osu.edu. facebook.com/QuePasaOSU @QuePasa_OSU

On August 22nd, 2015, the Torres family welcomed students moving in to the newly constructed Torres House, named in honor of OSU student, Private First Class Omar Ernesto Torres, killed in action in Iraq exactly eight years prior.